Npower Championship Matchday Twenty: Barnsley v Crystal Palace

Last updated : 05 December 2011 By Rob Miles (BarnsleyBoy)

Team News

Keith Hill is set to name an unchanged side as The Reds aim for a fourth successive victory. For the first time this season, Hill has an embarrassment of riches with only Reuben Noble-Lazarus still sidelined. Andy Gray is now fully fit after an Achilles problem whilst David Perkins is available after serving a one-match suspension. Ricardo Vaz Te is pushing for a start after coming off the bench to net at Peterborough on Saturday.

Likely Line-Up:

Luke Steele

Jim McNulty

Stephen Foster

Bobby Hassell

Jay McEveley

Jim O’Brien

Danny Drinkwater

Jacob Butterfield

Matty Done

Craig Davies

Nile Ranger/ Ricardo Vaz Te

Head To Head

Last Six Barnsley v Crystal Palace Results:

2/4/11 Crystal Palace 2-1 Barnsley (Championship)

14/8/10 Barnsley 1-0 Crystal Palace (Championship)

13/3/10 Barnsley 0-0 Crystal Palace (Championship)

19/12/09 Crystal Palace 1-1 Barnsley (Championship)

17/3/09 Barnsley 3-1 Crystal Palace (Championship)

18/10/08 Crystal Palace 3-0 Barnsley (championship)

Overall Record:

Barnsley Wins: 25

Crystal Palace Wins: 21

Draws: 10

Barnsley Goals: 75

Crystal Palace Goals: 70

At Oakwell:

Barnsley Wins: 13

Crystal Palace Wins: 11

Draws: 4

Barnsley Goals: 34

Crystal Palace Goals: 28

This Season

Last six 2011-2012 results:

Barnsley:

3/12/11 Peterborough 3–4 Barnsley (Championship)

26/11/11 Leeds 1–2 Barnsley (Championship)

19/11/11 Barnsley 2–0 Doncaster (Championship)

6/11/11 Brighton 2–0 Barnsley (Championship

1/11/11 Barnsley 2–1 Hull (Championship)

29/10/11 Barnsley 1–2 Bristol City (Championship)

W: 4 D: 0 L: 2 F: 11 A: 9 GD: 2 Points: 12

Crystal Palace:

2/12/11 Crystal Palace 1–1 Derby (Championship)

30/11/11 Manchester United 1-2 Crystal Palace (Carling Cup)

26/11/11 Crystal Palace 0-0 Millwall (Championship)

20/11/11 Leicester 3-0 Crystal Palace (Championship)

5/11/11 Cardiff 2-0 Crystal Palace (Championship)

1/11/11 Crystal Palace 0-0 Portsmouth (Championship)

W: 1 D: 3 L: 2 F: 3 A: 7 GD: -4 Points: 3

Interesting Stats

Barnsley go into this game looking for a fourth successive victory after wins over Doncaster, Leeds and Peterborough. The last time they achieved such a feat was way back in the 2004-2005 season when they defeated Blackpool, Colchester, Torquay and again Peterborough (by scoring four too). They have achieved three successive wins once in each of the last two seasons but have failed to make it four.

Interestingly those three victories on the bounce last season came in their 16th 17th and 18th games, this season it has come in their 17th 18th and 19th.

Crystal Palace are on the opposite end of the form table, and despite knocking Manchester United out of the Carling Cup at Old Trafford last week, they are winless in their last six league games- in which they have failed to score in five of them. That dismal run has come on the back of four straight wins, which had seen the Eagles soar to third in the Championship. But they now sit 10th, just one goal above The Reds in 13th.

They do have a pretty mean defence however, and although they have netted just one goal in the last nine and a half hours of football and only 19 all season, they have conceded just six goals in their last nine matches and only 18 all season. Only Middlesbrough and West Ham have conceded less this season having shipped 17.

Victory for The Reds tomorrow would see them rise to eighth in the Championship table. It would be the first time they will have been this high in league standings at this stage of a season since the 2005-2006 season in League One when they were sixth after 19 matches, and the highest at this level since the Play-Off Final season of 1999-2000 when they sat fourth at this point.

They are steadily improving, as this is the joint highest points total they have had at this stage of a season (along with 2007-2008) since that 1999-2000 campaign when they had 34 points. They have also bagged 25 goals so far, their highest goals tally at this level since… yep you guessed it, 1999-2000 when they had bagged 36 by now.

The omens do look good for Barnsley as they are unbeaten in their last five home meetings with Palace, and have only conceded one goal in that spell. Palace’s last victory at Oakwell came in February 2002 when they crushed a struggling Barnsley side 4-1, and The Reds were relegated at the end of that campaign.

Interestingly these two sides have met on the 6th December once before- back in 1924 at Oakwell, and The Reds won 3-0.

Mad Sites

www.barnsley-mad.co.uk

www.crystalpalace-mad.co.uk

 Official Sites

www.barnsleyfc.co.uk

www.cpfc.co.uk

Other Fixtures

None- This game was due to be played last Tuesday but was postponed due to Crystal Palace’s Carling Cup participation.